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Forum:19: Stone Guardian
The group returned to Librem with the intention of bringing news to Military Intelligence of the goings-on in the north. After briefing Agent Lexington, they were informed later that evening that the group would be going to the Royal Palace of Librem to report their findings to the Queen, so that Director Edith Harper could make a case for starting an investigation into Snezhny. Wise Queen Lisandra I of Librem received the group graciously and informed Director Harper that she could proceed with her intended investigation, and on attending a briefing later that evening, the group began to understand why: Back in the earliest stages of the war, Librem sent a peacekeeping detail including a detachment from Military Intelligence to Snezhny in an attempt to minimize civilian casualties and transport refugees to the south. However, the Librennian group was attacked and neither the surface elves nor the subterranean ones claimed responsibility for the attack. Librem was subsequently shut out of any official investigative attempts, and the Librennian government at the time opted not to engage in another conflict, having very recently engaged in large-scale conflicts against dragons that left the military drained and public morale low. However, now that Intelligence was ready to take on the task of entering Snezhny again, they would take the opportunity to both learned what happened to their forces and hopefully end the conflict between the elves. The group was informed that they would be part of one of two ongoing operations. Theirs would be called Operation Stone Guardian, and would be dedicated to entering Snezhnian territory to try to contact more of the Haka cells and learn more about the nature of the conflict. The other team of Agents Lexington and Waters, heading Operation Wind Seeker, would try to learn the exact fate of the Librennians that arrived before them. Notably, the group would finally receive permission to handle firearms from Military Intelligence henceforth, and were issued standard revolvers with permits to be kept on their person. Thus briefed, the group departed back to the north the next day, and it is there that they learned that Agent Lexington's stake in the operation was rather more personal. His father, Rennick Lexington, was among the Intelligence detachment that they were now trying to find. A Snezhnian by birth himself, Intelligence believed that the senior Lexington would be a stabilizing presence for the operation, but he disappeared along with his fellows those many years ago. Lexington was now awaiting the chance to learn the truth, with equal parts trepidation and his usual enthusiasm. The group proceeded north through the mountains of Snezhny along a river, trying to seek one of the copses that were known to house Snezhnian natives. They managed to expertly evade the early warning system called Silver Eagle that was apparently responsible for the destruction of Rhezu, and emerged into a forest that seemed devoid of life. On closer inspection, they found that the local flora and fauna had been wracked with diseases of many kinds, and among other things, they were capable of partially resisting magical healing and also seemingly crossed barriers between the species. The party thus headed to a column of black smoke rising into the sky in an attempt to find civilization. However, on their first night, they were assaulted by a cloud of poison gas surreptitiously leaked into their tent in the night, and sniped by the mysterious Desheterya of the Dead Dragons, who attempted to isolate and wound several individual targets before escaping. The group thus stopped to consider their plans against a guerrilla warrior in unfamiliar territory, and prepared for the remaining two-day gauntlet...